You might be thinking, “I have no hoard of gold; this post isn’t for me.”
Think again.
Some people seem very much like dragons: their sole passion in life appears to be amassing wealth, often without regard to those they trample in the process. Some, like Smaug, are so fixated on their hoard they know when one little piece is stolen and go to great lengths to protect it.
The rest of us are not so fixated on money.
Or are we?
Just because we don’t sleep on piles of gold doesn’t mean we are immune from dragonish thoughts or dragonish attitudes.
How many of these subtle dragonish attitudes can you relate to?
Hoarding because things are too precious – One of my dragonish tendencies is to save things for “a special occasion.” But since I don’t have a particular occasion in mind, they sit on the shelf, collecting dust. What good are fancy napkins, gourmet jams or expensive pens if I never use them? By considering some things too precious to use, I am actually wasting them. How silly. Instead of hoarding such things, I need to use them, to share them with friends, to show my family they are precious enough to rate fancy napkins instead of plain ones.
Hoarding out of fear – Have you ever been afraid to get rid of something because as soon as you do, you’re sure to need it? Don’t listen to such dragonish thoughts. Most of us are far, far above the poverty line. We don’t need to save every empty box, used screw or no-longer-needed appliance. Don’t become the kind hoarder they feature on TV. Trust in the abundance of God’s provision and don’t succumb to the fear that you might not have what you need tomorrow if you get rid of stuff you don’t need today.
When hoarding becomes an idol – When my grandmother was a little girl, she and her sisters peeled the foil from the paper of gum wrappers so it could be recycled as part of the war effort. Such frugality is wise, perhaps even necessary, in times of shortage, such as World War One. But frugality can be taken beyond the bounds of good stewardship. It can become a competition, or even a compulsion. We must not allow the challenge of frugal living to become our primary focus. Nor should we believe that voluntary frugality is somehow a more noble lifestyle, which implies that those who spend more freely are therefore ignoble. The one who fixates day and night over each penny spent is more in danger of serving the money idol than the one who doesn’t give it a thought.
When hoarding becomes our motivation – Our society is so focused on making money that profit has become the sole motivation for every venture—even things like hospitals that would better serve their patients if other criteria were uppermost. This dragonish attitude can color my thinking through such maxims as “time is money.” In God’s economy, the value of our time and efforts are not calculated by how much we earn, but by how well we serve. Mastercard understands that some things in life are priceless—we should too.
When hoarding effects our generosity – I am by nature a person who prefers saving money to spending it. This is a useful trait when it comes to living within a budget, but it can be a problem when it comes to gift-giving, or charitable giving. I don’t want to be a niggardly giver, but sometimes old habits are hard to ignore. I think Jesus’s admonition to “not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” is appropriate for situations like this. Sometimes we need to give what our heart tells us, with no thought to the price. Those who sow generously will reap generously. Never be afraid to be generous.
If you found any of these hoarding tendencies in yourself, I hope you will join me in making an effort to fight the dragons. And live a more generous, more content life.
